After 27 games into the season, the Cubs stand at 11-16 (.407 winning percentage) in last place in the NL Central.
No one expected the Cubs to be near the top of the standings.
But looking at the team WAR (Wins Above Replacement) an odd trend appears with these Cubs.
A replacement team roster would be expected to have 8.64 wins in 27 games.
The Cubs current team WAR is 6.0 (2.3 for batters and 3.7 for pitching).
Under the sabermetric, the Cubs should have 14.64 wins.
This shows that the Cubs are losing 25 percent more games that would be expected from their gross pitching and batting statistics.
How can that be?
There are two prime ways the Cubs win total is depressed: untimely hitting and wasted quality starts. The Cubs are 4-14 in quality start games. This shows the bullpen has been horrible during the first few weeks of the season. The Cubs cannot score with runners in scoring position. The team batting average is .237. Its OBP is .292. Its average for RISP is less than .150, near last the league.
Despite the offensive failings, the Cubs have been in close games throughout the season (even though most of their success has been by beating the Marlins, a Class AA 1/2 squad, and the Padres, a Class AAA 1/2 team.)
The Cubs are on pace to lose 96 games, which is an improvement from 2012's 101 loss campaign.
